The present invention relates to a method for packing consumer packages or their equivalent, directly onto pallets. This invention also relates to an apparatus for applying the aforementioned method.
In the prior art there are known such packing methods where relatively smal consumer packages are packed into so-called group packings, and the group packings further onto pallets. The group packings contain generally 10-20 consumer packages.
Recently, however, the need has arisen to pack consumer packages directly onto pallets which can as such be exposed in supermarkets. In this case group packings cannot be utilized. Moreover, nowadays smaller pallet sizes have gained popularity, for instance 600.times.800 mm. Pallets of this size are small enough to fit in and out of doors and are easy to handle in general.
The piling of consumer packages or other similar small packages directly onto a pallet is, however, problematical. Normally it is not possible to pile a full layer of small consumer packings onto a pallet and only thereafter wrap the whole pallet, together with the packages with for instance shrink-wrap. Small packages tend to fall off the pallet, wherefore it is necessary to form the separate load layers so that they are piled in a mutually supporting fashion. But the need to vary the piling forms sets up considerable requirements for the packing machine.
From U.S. Pat. No. 3,594,977 issued July 27, 1971 to Grasvoll an apparatus for packing articles in a container is known. The apparatus comprises a conveyor adapted to forward the articles to be packed and pusher means for feeding a row of articles from the conveyor laterally onto a support plate for forming there a load layer, within a guiding frame surrounds the support plate. The support plate is mounted for movement into said container and, when removing it, for sliding the load layer onto the previous load layer. The container is arranged for being lowered down the height of one load layer. But no wrapping of the articles after piling them has been provided.